FRANCE: Coup de Pompidou

No sooner had Georges Pompidou returned from
his European summit discussions in Bonn last week than France's
President, with rather less ceremony than is customary, accepted the
resignation of Premier Jacques Chaban-Delmas. In fact, the suave,
sporty Cha-ban, 57, whose "new society" programs have given the
Gaullist government a liberal cast, was fired, apparently because he
did not fit into presidential strategy for next March's parliamentary
elections. The man who does: Pierre Messmer, 56, an orthodox Gaullist
who served as Defense Minister under Charles de Gaulle.

Chaban's ouster had been rumored for months, but the actual timing came
as a...